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THE WICKED SISTER

by Karen Dionne ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 4, 2020

A melodramatic, ultimately disappointing endeavor.

Fifteen years ago, Rachel Cunningham killed her parents. Or so she thought.

Rachel was only 11 when she shot her mother, watched her father turn his rifle on himself in their remote hunting lodge on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and then was found catatonic after having disappeared into the deep woods for two weeks. Now 26, she’s been in and out of psychiatric institutions, unable to come to terms with her terrible deed. The world thinks her father killed her mother, then himself: Rachel confessed, but no one believed her. One day, Trevor, an aspiring journalist, sits down with Rachel so she can tell her story and hopefully clear her father’s name. Then she plans to take her own life. But when Rachel catches a glimpse of the police report that says there's no way she could have fired that rifle, she questions everything she thought she knew about that day, and the gaps in her memory take on an even more ominous hue. She checks herself out of the hospital, calls Trevor for a ride, and heads back to the lodge, where her older sister, Diana, and her aunt, Charlotte, have lived for years. Choosing to hide out in the lodge rather than reveal herself, Rachel searches for clues about her parents’ deaths and soon realizes that Diana, and their complicated relationship, may hold the key to everything. Interspersed with Rachel’s present-day narrative, her mother, Jenny, who was a wildlife biologist along with Rachel’s father, Peter, details the years leading up to her death and the distressing events that marked their otherwise idyllic existence. Dionne has her locale down pat: It doesn’t get much creepier than a huge lodge filled with taxidermic animals where cell signals are scarce and dangers lurk in the surrounding woods. The characters lack nuance, though, and Dionne tends to clearly telegraph upcoming plot twists. Further, the book’s true villain does everything short of mustache twirling, and it’s not quite clear if readers should take Rachel’s earnest claim that she can talk to animals seriously. In the end, it’s all just a bit too much.

Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-735-21303-6

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: May 17, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020

THRILLER | PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE

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by Karen Dionne

THE HOUSE ACROSS THE LAKE

by Riley Sager ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2022

A weird, wild ride.

Celebrity scandal and a haunted lake drive the narrative in this bestselling author’s latest serving of subtly ironic suspense.

Sager’s debut, Final Girls (2017), was fun and beautifully crafted. His most recent novels— Home Before Dark (2020) and Survive the Night (2021) —have been fun and a bit rickety. His new novel fits that mold. Narrator Casey Fletcher grew up watching her mother dazzle audiences, and then she became an actor herself. While she never achieves the “America’s sweetheart” status her mother enjoyed, Casey makes a career out of bit parts in movies and on TV and meatier parts onstage. Then the death of her husband sends her into an alcoholic spiral that ends with her getting fired from a Broadway play. When paparazzi document her substance abuse, her mother exiles her to the family retreat in Vermont. Casey has a dry, droll perspective that persists until circumstances overwhelm her, and if you’re getting a Carrie Fisher vibe from Casey Fletcher, that is almost certainly not an accident. Once in Vermont, she passes the time drinking bourbon and watching the former supermodel and the tech mogul who live across the lake through a pair of binoculars. Casey befriends Katherine Royce after rescuing her when she almost drowns and soon concludes that all is not well in Katherine and Tom’s marriage. Then Katherine disappears….It would be unfair to say too much about what happens next, but creepy coincidences start piling up, and eventually, Casey has to face the possibility that maybe some of the eerie legends about Lake Greene might have some truth to them. Sager certainly delivers a lot of twists, and he ventures into what is, for him, new territory. Are there some things that don’t quite add up at the end? Maybe, but asking that question does nothing but spoil a highly entertaining read.

Pub Date: June 21, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-593-18319-9

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: March 29, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022

PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER | SUSPENSE | THRILLER | SUSPENSE | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE | GENERAL FICTION

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by Riley Sager

Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

New York Times Bestseller

by Nora Roberts ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 21, 2024

A touching story of love and grief ends in an epic battle of good versus evil.

Roberts’ latest may move you to tears, or joy, or dread, or all three.

Every summer, John and Cora Fox visit Cora’s mother, Lucy Lannigan, in Redbud Hollow, Kentucky, leaving their children, 12-year-old Thea and 10-year-old Rem, for a two-week taste of heaven. The children love Grammie Lucy far more than John’s snooty family, which looks down on Cora. Lucy, a healer with deep Appalachian roots, loves animals, cooks the best meals, plays musical instruments, and makes soap and candles for her thriving business. Thea—who’s inherited the psychic abilities passed down through the women of Lucy’s family—has vivid magical dreams, one of which becomes a living nightmare when a psychopath robs and murders John and Cora as Thea watches helplessly. Thea’s description of the killer and her ability to see him in real time help the skeptical police catch Ray Riggs, who goes to prison for life. Although Thea and Rem go on to have a wonderful childhood with Grammie, Thea constantly wages a mental battle with Riggs, who tries to use his own psychic abilities to get into her mind. Over the years, Thea uses her imagination to become a game designer while the more business-minded Rem helps manage her career. Thea eventually builds a house near Lucy, where a newly arrived neighbor is her teen crush, singer-songwriter Tyler Brennan. Tyler has his own issues and is protective of his young son but slowly builds a loving relationship with Thea, whose silence about her abilities leads to a devastating misunderstanding. At first Thea tries to keep Riggs locked out of her mind. As her powers grow, she torments him. Finally, she realizes that she must win this battle and destroy him if she’s ever to have peace.

Pub Date: May 21, 2024

ISBN: 9781250289698

Page Count: 432

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: March 23, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024

ROMANCE | GENERAL ROMANCE | SUSPENSE | GENERAL FICTION | THRILLER | SUSPENSE | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE

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Review: The Wicked Sister by Karen Dionne

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

She thought she’d buried her past. But what if it’s been hunting her this whole time?

From the bestselling and award-winning author of  The Marsh King’s Daughter  comes a startling novel of psychological suspense as two generations of sisters try to unravel their tangled relationships between nature and nurture, guilt and betrayal, love and evil.

You have been cut off from society for fifteen years, shut away in a mental hospital in self-imposed exile as punishment for the terrible thing you did when you were a child.

But what if nothing about your past is as it seems?

And if you didn’t accidentally shoot and kill your mother, then whoever did is still out there. Waiting for you.

For a decade and a half, Rachel Cunningham has chosen to lock herself away in a psychiatric facility, tortured by gaps in her memory and the certainty that she is responsible for her parents’ deaths. But when she learns new details about their murders, Rachel returns, in a quest for answers, to the place where she once felt safest: her family’s sprawling log cabin in the remote forests of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

As Rachel begins to uncover what really happened on the day her parents were murdered, she learns–as her mother did years earlier–that home can be a place of unspeakable evil, and that the bond she shares with her sister might be the most poisonous of all.

The Wicked Sister by Karen Dionne is a mesmerizing mystery with an eerie setting.

Twenty-six year old Rachel Cunningham  has been in a mental institution for the past fifteen years.   She is convinced she killed her mom, Jenny, which in turn led to her father Peter killing himself in despair.  Rachel’s memories of the day of their deaths is fragmented and there are also questions about what happened to her in the aftermath of their deaths.  But when aspiring journalist Trevor Lehto asks her for an interview, Rachel learns shocking information that turns her perception of what happened upside down. Determined to find answers, Rachel checks herself out of the mental hospital and returns to the family’s isolated lodge in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Will Rachel finally remember what happened to that fateful day?

Years earlier, Jenny convinces Peter to leave his teaching position to live on his family’s 4000 acre lodge.  With their daughter Diana in tow, they soon settle into their new life. Jenny is a biologist who studies the bears the that roam  through their woods.  But all is not well in their household because Diana is not your typical child. But Jenny and Peter hope the isolation will help them manage their willful daughter.

After Rachel’s birth, Jenny’s sister Charlotte moves in with them to help care for her nieces. She is soon quite close to Diana and Jenny completely trusts her sister is following their wishes regarding her care. However, Charlotte secretly gives the girls much more freedom than either of their parents would approve of. And when Jenny make a stunning discovery about Diana, what will she and Peter decide to do?

Rachel is correct in her supposition that returning home will help fill in her memory gaps. With help from unexpected sources,  she tries to understand what these new recollections mean. Rachel is also trying to fly under the radar, but can she outwit her sister and aunt?

Seamlessly moving back and forth in time,   The Wicked Sister is a riveting mystery with a chilling storyline.  The characters are well-developed but some are more likable than others. The setting is incredibly atmospheric and springs vibrantly to life. With diabolical twists and turns, Karen Dionne brings this clever mystery to an exciting conclusion. Absolutely loved and HIGHLY recommend this engrossing mystery to fans of the genre.

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Copyright © 2011-2023 Book Reviews & More by Kathy. All Rights Reserved.

The Wicked Sister by Karen Dionne

One of the common themes in the book was a mother’s unconditional love of her child no matter what her child did. Jenny tried to excuse even the most unacceptable behaviors. Another theme was Rachel questioning her ability to trust herself. Since she was in a mental health institution from the time she was 11 years old, she appeared to suffer from institutionalization in which she relied on the staff to take care of her needs.  She spent 15 years at the institution and as a result had difficulty making her own decisions. Many chapters ended in cliffhangers pushing me to turn the page to find out what was going to happen. The book was laced with intense moments. Another theme described well in the book was the importance of nature and all wildlife and how we can coexist with nature in a respectful manner.

I liked how clearly Dionne described Diana’s pathology and how some of the people in her life fell prey to her manipulation. I was taken into Rachel’s and Jenny’s world and could relate to their pain and frustration. After resenting her long stay at the mental health institution, Rachel realized how strong the experience made her. I liked how some of the characters were introduced such as White Bear. He became a loveable character and Dionne created a sense of loss when he was shot.

Three books and a television series came to mind when I read the book. The first was Steve Hamilton’s “Misery” with the isolation and scariness of the plot. The other book was Mikel Classen’s book “ True Tales: The Forgotten History of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. ” Some of the characters described in Classen’s book were as callous and evil as Diana was described in Dionne’s book. Two disturbed people abducted, tortured and forced young women do horrible things. The women were held prisoner. Dionne’s book “The Marsh King’s Daughter” followed the same format and was recognized as one of the best thrillers of 2017. Some of the Criminal Minds’ episodes came to mind with the sick games Diana played. Especially when Rachel was locked in a cage.

At one point in my life, I was terrified when a stalker would not leave me alone and I never knew where he was going show up next. One of the scariest times was when he was waiting for me in his car with another man at night in a parking lot and I was by myself. I could hear my heartbeat. I did manage to get in my car, lock the doors and take off in a hurry. It was not difficult to imagine the horror Rachel felt when she was hiding from the murderous duo.

As mentioned earlier, as a result of her parents’ deaths, Rachel spent time at a mental health institution located in Newberry, Michigan. Most of the novel took place in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.P.) and Dionne introduced readers to the harsh winters and wildlife of such a rural area. She set up a homestead with her husband in St. Ignace, Michigan in 1974, as part of her back-to-the-land movement. Her love of the U.P. was evident throughout the book. She described the purpose of Oswald’s Bear Ranch which was located near Newberry. Marquette was one of the cities Jenny and Peter visited often. Marquette served as the location where they met with Diana’s counselor and where Peter sought employment.

Dionne displayed her love of the outdoors and wildlife throughout the book. She went into detail about the beliefs instilled throughout the world about ravens, particularly on page 108. For example: “Native Americans worshipped ravens as the creator of Earth, moon, sun and stars, but they also viewed them as tricksters and cheats, though I’ve never had a problem with them.” This was thought by Rachel. She had a relationship with bears and ravens, and they saved her life on several occasions.

In order to appease Diana, Jenny and Peter permitted her to practice taxidermy after finding animals cut up and left to rot.  Other examples of Diana’s severe psychological disorder included when Diana was caught by Jenny as she tried to kill Rachel on multiple occasions and Jenny’s unborn son dying as a result of Diana’s actions. Jenny and Peter refused to see Diana for who she really was until it was too late.

Meanwhile, Charlotte, Jenny’s sister came to live with them. She was assigned the role of watching over Rachel. Jenny made the mistake of not informing Charlotte of Diana’s mental health diagnosis. Charlotte became one of Diana’s steadfast allies. Max worked for Peter and Jenny and Charlotte and Max planned on getting married. Jenny caught Max and Charlotte in the act of disobeying Jenny’s request to keep Rachel safe. Charlotte found out what happened to Max which created a problem between her and Diana.

Rachel was released from the institution when she was approximately 26 years old and discovered Charlotte and Diana at her childhood home. Up to the point of her release, Rachel could not recall what actually happened to her parents. She thought she was responsible. A raven told her the truth would be revealed to her. Rachel was flooded with all the memories of her parent’s death, the death of a dear friend and of another individual when she arrived at her childhood home. All at the hand of Diana except for one death. Again, her life was in danger. Her sister wanted to kill her or lock her up for good. Rachel’s strength became evident while she tried to stay alive with a friend who came to her aid. Another theme that revealed itself throughout the book concerned Rachel’s empathy. She put her friend’s life before her own, she cared about wildlife, and she looked after a friend’s brother.

Dionne created an excellent novel of murder and a level of insanity that was chilling to the bone. The book was definitely a page-turner. Rachel, Jenny, and Peter were endearing characters who wanted to live a normal life. They were prevented from experiencing peace because of Diana’s dark persona. It was difficult to understand why Diana’s parents felt the way they did and why it took so long for them to realize how dangerous Diana was. People, who were diagnosed as psychopaths, have been known to be very manipulating and many intense situations occurred due to Diana’s pathology. I recommend “ The Wicked Sister ” for the suspense, the love of nature, the depth of extreme pathology, and the resiliency and strength of some of the main characters.

Title: The Wicked Sister Author: Karen Dionne

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Review – The Wicked Sister by Karen Dionne

Posted January 15, 2021 by Carole in Audiobook , Book Reviews / 20 Comments

She thought she’d buried her past. But what if it’s been hunting her this whole time? From the bestselling and award-winning author of The Marsh King’s Daughter comes a startling novel of psychological suspense as two generations of sisters try to unravel their tangled relationships between nature and nurture, guilt and betrayal, love and evil. You have been cut off from society for fifteen years, shut away in a mental hospital in self-imposed exile as punishment for the terrible thing you did when you were a child. But what if nothing about your past is as it seems? And if you didn’t accidentally shoot and kill your mother, then whoever did is still out there. Waiting for you. For a decade and a half, Rachel Cunningham has chosen to lock herself away in a psychiatric facility, tortured by gaps in her memory and the certainty that she is responsible for her parents’ deaths. But when she learns new details about their murders, Rachel returns, in a quest for answers, to the place where she once felt safest: her family’s sprawling log cabin in the remote forests of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. As Rachel begins to uncover what really happened on the day her parents were murdered, she learns—as her mother did years earlier—that home can be a place of unspeakable evil, and that the bond she shares with her sister might be the most poisonous of all. Amazon | Audible | BAM! | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Kobo

I loved this book!  I really enjoyed the author’s previous novel, The Marsh King’s Daughter , so I was really excited to get the chance to read this book.  Unfortunately, when this book was released, I was in the process of moving so I couldn’t get to it right away but I never forgot about it and made sure to work it in just as soon as I could.  I was hooked by this story right away and had a very hard time putting it down.  This book was just as good as I had hoped it would be.

I received a digital review copy of this book from G.P. Putnam’s Sons via Edelweiss and borrowed a copy of the audiobook from my local library.

About the Author Karen Dionne is the USA Today and #1 internationally bestselling author of the award-winning psychological suspense novel The Marsh King’s Daughter , published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in the U.S. and in 25 other countries. She enjoys nature photography and lives with her husband in Detroit’s northern suburbs. Author Links: Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

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20 responses to “ Review – The Wicked Sister by Karen Dionne ”

Wow, that sounds amazing. What a horrible childhood though.

It would be tough to grow up with a sister like that!

Oh wow this sounds fantastic. I love the premise, so I need to add this to my Goodreads to-read list. Glad it was just as good as you'd hoped!

-Lauren http://www.shootingstarsmag.net

I hope you enjoy this one when you get the chance to read it, Lauren!

Oooh, this does sound compelling! I'm definitely going to check this one out. Thanks for the rec!

I hope you get the chance to read this one, Susan!

Excellent review! I also got this from the library and really enjoyed it. It was intense! I was so happy Rachel was able to get to the truth but I'm still worried about her far out future.

Anne – Books of My Heart

It was definitely intense!

Sounds like a good one! 🙂

It really was, Stormi!

This one sounds superb, so happy to see that you enjoyed it so well. You gotta love a plot that is written that keeps the reader guessing.

Lovely review.

Yes, I loved the fact that anything could happen in this book!

Certainly sounds like you enjoyed it!

It was really good, Chuckles!

Gotta love when it keeps you guessing 😀

It makes it hard to stop reading.

This sounds so good! I am glad you liked it, Carole. Another one for my wish list.

I hope you enjoy this one if you get the chance to read it, Wendy!

I really loved this one too. It was honestly a bit darker than I was expecting, but I couldn't stop reading!

It was dark but wonderful!

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Submitting a book for review, write the editor, you are here:, the wicked sister.

• About the Book

From the bestselling and award-winning author of THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER comes a startling novel of psychological suspense as two generations of sisters try to unravel their tangled relationships between nature and nurture, guilt and betrayal, love and evil.

For a decade and a half, Rachel Cunningham has chosen to lock herself away in a psychiatric facility, tortured by gaps in her memory and the certainty that she is responsible for her parents' deaths. But when she learns new details about their murders, Rachel returns, in a quest for answers, to the place where she once felt safest: her family's sprawling log cabin in the remote forests of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

As Rachel begins to uncover what really happened on the day her parents were murdered, she learns --- as her mother did years earlier --- that home can be a place of unspeakable evil, and that the bond she shares with her sister might be the most poisonous of all.

Audiobook available, read by Kristen Sieh and Andi Arndt

The Wicked Sister by Karen Dionne

• Publication Date: June 29, 2021
• Genres: Fiction , Psychological Suspense , Psychological Thriller , Suspense , Thriller
• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
• ISBN-10: 0735213046
• ISBN-13: 9780735213043

Crime Fiction Lover

The Wicked Sister by Karen Dionne

The follow-up to Karen Dionne’s award-winning The Marsh King’s Daughter , this psychological thriller reprises some of the elements of her earlier hit, with an all-new story and cast of characters on the fast-track for trouble. Like the earlier book, it’s set in the sparsely populated but heavily wooded Upper Peninsula of Michigan – the UP to us natives. A Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale was the framing device for the earlier book, not so here. Still, the main character, 26-year-old Rachel, has a long-lasting love of fairy tales, in their unDisneyfied, often violent originals. The grim Grimm.

The book’s most fantastical element is Rachel’s ability to talk to animals – spiders, ravens, bears. I’m not usually a fan of that kind of break with reality but Dionne doesn’t overdo it and handles these interactions with such a light touch that they are more enchanting than weird. What’s more, the animals’ advice is akin to the bland generalisations of a horoscope: ‘All will become known,’ ‘Things are not as they seem,’ ‘Remember.’ They could plausibly be her common sense talking. Whatever, they offer the encouragement that keeps Rachel focused.

Alternating chapters are narrated with first-person immediacy by Rachel (labeled ‘now’) and her mother Jenny (‘then’). In the now of the story, Rachel has spent the last 15 years in a state psychiatric hospital, convinced that she murdered her parents when she was 11. Drugs, electro-shock treatments and talk therapy have not shaken this all-consuming belief. Jenny’s ‘then’ chapters describe events leading up to the murders.

It isn’t until Rachel happens to see the crime report describing the murder weapon – a powerful rifle beyond the capability of a child to handle – that she realises she is innocent. The report says as much; the recoil would have left her a mass of bruises. But if she didn’t shoot them, who did? What really happened? She still can’t remember.

Because she’s of legal age and has remained in the hospital voluntarily, she can check herself out and does. With little formal education, no job and no money, she has little choice but to go home. Anyway, home is where the answers are. And the dangers.

She travels to the remote hunting lodge where she lived. There’s no telephone, no cell phone service and no neighbours. The lodge was built by Rachel’s great-grandfather, deep in 4000 acres of woods. Her parents moved there mostly to keep her older sister Diana, then age eight, away from other children. Children she could harm. And had harmed. At the lodge, maybe they could control and protect her.

On arrival, they found the lodge filled with hunting rifles and trophies, befitting its original purpose. Almost the first thing they did was empty the gun room and put the rifles in storage. Diana was a manipulative child and always got her way. Trying to refuse her something was an inevitable disaster. Maybe they made a mistake, but when Diana was a teenager the parents hoped to productively channel her habit of eviscerating small animals. They encouraged her to take up taxidermy. It turned out that she loved it.

Despite the undercurrent of anxiety that Dionne evokes in her work, the UP scenery is spectacular and lovingly described, including in the scenes narrated by Jenny. She and her husband were wildlife biologists and used this pristine wilderness for field research. Jenny’s specialty was bears. Sometimes Diana went with her and, when Rachel was old enough, she did too.

That was then. Of course, Rachel’s not sure what kind of reception she’ll receive now. Diana lives in the lodge with their Aunt Charlotte, who dotes on her, but Rachel still owns half. She arrives to an empty house and isn’t there long before she makes two discoveries: Diana plans to have her legally committed so she can sell off the family’s acreage for vacation homes – something their parents would never have allowed – and the guns are back.

Now Rachel has to protect not just herself, but also the family property. And she still wants those answers. Before Diana and Charlotte return to the lodge, she’ll have to hide. A confrontation with a devious and unstable person skilled at using razor-sharp implements in a house stocked with weapons has all the makings of a catastrophe, but Rachel has skills too. The battle of wits and wills is on.

Also try Gretchen by Shannon Kirk or the award-winning My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite.

Sphere Print/Kindle/iBook £4.99

CFL Rating: 4 Stars

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Book reviews, book chat – basically anything books , the wicked sister by karen dionne – book review.

Title : The Wicked Sister

Author : Karen Dionne

Genre : Psychological Thriller

Publisher : Sphere, Little Brown

Publication Date : 4th August 2020

Rating : 5/5

Y ou have been cut off from society for fifteen years, shut away in a mental hospital in self-imposed exile as punishment for the terrible thing you did when you were a child.

But what if nothing about your past is as it seems?

And if you didn’t accidentally shoot and kill your mother, then whoever did is still out there. Waiting for you.

For a decade and a half, Rachel Cunningham has chosen to lock herself away in a psychiatric facility, tortured by gaps in her memory and the certainty that she is responsible for her parents’ deaths. But when she learns new details about their murders, Rachel returns, in a quest for answers, to the place where she once felt safest: her family’s sprawling log cabin in the remote forests of Michigan.

As Rachel begins to uncover what really happened on the day her parents were murdered, she learns – as her mother did years earlier – that home can be a place of unspeakable evil, and that the bond she shares with her sister might be the most poisonous of all.

I’ve been looking forward to reading The Wicked Sister for months and accordingly my expectations were very high. I can happily confirm it totally lived up to those expectations. The story follows Rachel, a young woman who has spent fifteen years of her life in a mental hospital because she is convinced she is responsible for the death of her parents. Her memory is unreliable and full of holes and after all this time she starts to question everything she thought she knew about her past. This question about what really happened sends her back to her remote childhood home and into a dark confrontation with her sister.

I loved this book. It is the very definition of the word unputdownable, proved by the fact I stayed up until 3AM finishing it because I had to know the truth about what happened to Rachel and her family. The narrative is split between the present – following Rachel and her quest to uncover the truth and the past – following Rachel’s mother as she raises her family, including Diana, Rachel’s complicated and dangerous elder sister. This works beautifully. I always think the mark of a successful dual narrative is if, at the end of each section, the reader is desperate to remain in that place and time. That was very much the case here, I kept wanting to know more and each narrative was equally addictively compelling.

The question of nature versus nurture is very much at play in The Wicked Sister and it is an endlessly intriguing concept. The question of how a parent, who is supposed to love their child unconditionally, should deal with the fact that their child may be a genuinely evil person is so complicated and never fails to make the reader think about what they would do in that situation. This book also delves into the question of culpability and consequences of living with absolutely no sense of empathy, remorse or doubt. It makes for a harrowing and dark read which completely draws you into the world of these characters and makes every moment tense and unpredictable. Another aspect this book does so brilliantly is the incredible sense of setting. Most of the book takes place in the family’s remote and palatial land in the upper peninsula of Michigan. It is a place that creates the most fantastic sense of atmosphere, isolation and of the power of nature. Both Rachel’s mother, a wildlife biologist, and Rachel herself have a true passion for bears (a passion I happen to share – which just made me love this book even more). Dionne weaves this love of nature and animals into the story of this family in a powerful and creative way which is mirrored in terrifying fashion by Diana’s obsession with taxidermy. I really can’t sing the praises of this brilliant psychological thriller enough – it is definitely going to be one of my favourites of the year. It is an intense, shocking, emotionally engaging and superbly written book. Highly recommend.

I kindly received a proof copy of the book from the publisher. My review is my own honest opinion.

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6 thoughts on “ the wicked sister by karen dionne – book review ”.

Sounds very interesting. Great review.

I’m glad your expectations were met! Sounds like this book (unless I’m wrong) has an unreliable narrator + the complicated and dangerous elder sister makes it all sound thrilling. Would love to read this now!

https://bookfever11.com/

Great review 🐳

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The wicked sister (paperback).

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• Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense
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• Paperback, Large Print (September 1st, 2020): $29.00
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The Wicked Sister: The gripping thriller with a killer twist Hardcover – 4 Aug. 2020

The Wicked Sister (Hardcover)

• Description
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• Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense
• Fiction / Thrillers / Psychological
• Fiction / Thrillers / Crime

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